We’re delighted to announce our Charity received the highly commended Soundscape Award at Noise Abatement Society’s John Connell Awards on Wednesday, 16th October!

The award was presented to the Wonderseekers team, at the Palace of Westminster, for the work done on the ground-breaking one-year project, Sound of Biodiversity. The project, a collaboration between Wonderseekers, Dr Sarah Payne representing the University of Surrey’s Institute of Sustainability, and 30 children from Winnall Primary School in Winchester, used the topic of sound to encourage children to enhance their science enquiry skills and conduct their own research to boost school biodiversity.  

Over the past year, the children have been using sound to explore the local landscapes of their school and Winchester Science Centre. It’s been a fantastic opportunity for young people to be centre stage in active scientific research.

Jennie Bushell, Project Officer at Wonderseekers said: “Working on this project has been a real pleasure for me. I loved seeing the children’s connection to nature through sound develop and grow.”

Ben Ward, Chief Executive Officer at Wonderseekers said: “I’m so pleased all the hard work of our team has been recognised with this award. This brilliant project has been an eye-opening experience, providing us with valuable insights into how we can develop a new approach to engaging young children with science and nature. I’m excited to see how the learnings from this project help guide future collaborations.”

Dr Sarah Payne, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Psychology at the University of Surrey added: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed this year working with the children, being inspired by their excellent questions and thoughts on their everyday soundscapes.”

The Sound of Biodiversity project was made possible thanks to the support of UK Research and Innovation, Museums Association, and The Association for Science and Discovery Centres.